US and allies bar Russian Central Bank from accessing reserves worldwide

The administration said the Kremlin would use them to mitigate other sanctions.

The Biden administration on Monday emphasized the drastic nature of economic sanctions levied again Russia over the weekend in which the U.S. and allies targeted Russia's Central Bank, preventing the Kremlin from accessing any of its more than $600 billion in reserves in the U.S., or in U.S. dollars in foreign countries.

The sanctions also target Russia's National Wealth Fund and the Ministry of Finance, and officials said it was clear from the beginning of the Ukraine invasion that Russian President Vladimir Putin was planning to use Central Bank assets to mitigate any sanctions.

"Today's announcement that prohibit transactions with the Central Bank of Russia in the National Wealth Fund will significantly hinder their ability to do that, and inhibit their access to hundreds of billions of dollars in assets from our actions alone, they will not be able to access assets that are either in United States are in U.S. dollars," officials told reporters.

"This fund and its leadership are symbols of deep seated rushing corruption and influence peddling globally … and it's known to be intimately connected to kleptocracy at the highest levels of the Russian government," an official added.